A call for change in civic engagement

Traditional government model seen as bar to participation in public affairs

POINT LOMA  Traditional forms of citizen interaction with local government are increasingly irrelevant in the way people live and communicate in the age of social media.

So says Matt Leighninger, who heads up the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, an umbrella organization for international groups and scholars that focus on public engagement and deliberation.

“There’s a generational shift in what people want and what they can do,” Leighninger told about 100 people gathered at the San Diego Foundation’s Malin Burnham Center for Civic Engagement this week. “And the more people are engaged and feel attached, the better communities do.”

His appearance was the first of several initiatives the center intends to launch this year to spur greater participation in public affairs, according to Bonghwan “BH” Kim the center’s executive director.

“Local government represents the best opportunity for change because that’s the government closest to the people,” Kim said. “We’re going to be focusing on ways to bridge the government and community divide, and develop a framework in which we can engage diverse cultures.”

Newly elected Del Mar City Councilwoman Sherry Parks said she was inspired by what she heard.

“I was excited to hear about alternative ways to do what has been done the same way for so many years,” said, Parks, one of a handful of public officials at the session. “Matt brought us something fresh to use, and I really liked hearing about how this can defang community division.”

Examples cited by Leighninger of what turns people off about local government is the decades-old way much of its business is conducted:

• Public hearings that restrict discussion to a single topic and give people just three minutes to address seemingly bored officials whose minds often appear already made up on a major policy decision.

• Neighborhoods presented by a government agency with a small set of predetermined options on what to do about a nagging problem, thus discouraging potentially more creative solutions.

• Meetings that draw “the usual suspects” and put out a vibe that outsiders aren’t wanted.

Much of what Leighninger espouses about the reasons more people don’t get more involved in governmental decision making may be at the root of what John Nienstedt calls San Diego’s “engagement problem.”

Nienstedt owns Competitive Edge Research, a national polling firm that, among other things, compiles metropolitan-area civic participation rankings based on research by a group called the National Council on Citizenship. San Diego ranks 42nd out of the 51 largest metro areas.

While Leighninger said a good start to building more civic engagement is through small, neighborhood groups, Nienstedt isn’t so certain.

“If we’re going to move up on the list, there has to be a broader way of doing it,” Nienstedt said in an interview.

He supports efforts to get more people involved, saying that usually leads to better decision-making and more community buy-in.

Leighninger said younger couples with children are particularly interested in new ways to engage in civic life, both in politics and public institutions.

His recommendations include letting people have a chance to devise their own options to solve a problem or respond to an issue, make sure all elements of the community are included, and use social media tools to share information and generate ideas and discussion.